WJPA Sports

The WPIAL football playoff pairings are set.  Wash High is seeded 1st in the 1A bracket, the highest of any team from the two-county area. Fort Cherry is 4th in that bracket and would get a rematch with the Little Prexies in the WPIAL semifinals if both win twice. Trinity (5A) received a wild card and a top 8 seed. The Hillers got a home game in the first round.  #8 McGuffey (2A) also was rewarded with a home game. #12 Chartiers-Houston (2A) also was a wild card invitee. The Bucs head into Beaver County. Ringgold (4A) and Bentworth (1A) were not selected. Following is a listing of games including Washington/Greene County teams. Once we finalize broadcast plans, we’ll update. Click for Brackets

1A #1 Wash High hosting #16 Frazier
1A #8 Beth-Center hosting #9 Burgettstown
1A #4 Fort Cherry hosting #13 Avella
1A #6 California hosting #11 Northgate
2A #8 McGuffey hosting #9 Beaver Falls
2A #12 Chartiers-Houston at #5 Western Beaver
3A #10 Waynesburg at #7 Aliquippa
5A #8 Trinity hosting #9 Greater Latrobe

Here’s our pre-release playoff snapshot:
6A Quad County—Canon-McMillan has clinched the #2 seed and a home game in the WPIAL semifinals against #3 North Allegheny in two weeks.
5A Allegheny Six–Defending WPIAL champion Peters Township (1-4, 3-7) will not make the tournament. Trinity (2-3, 5-5) is solidly in the wild card picture.  The Hillers’ losses to Thomas Jefferson and West Allegheny kept Trinity from earning an automatic bid but the Hillers are probably in the field and may get another shot at TJ.
4A Big Six—Ringgold (3-2, 5-5) is probably in trouble due to non-conference losses to Kiski (3-7) and Hampton (5-5). Blackhawk is a definite for one wild card spot. Ringgold’s almost certainly on the wrong side of the equation for the other wild card spot.
3A Interstate—Waynesburg (4-2, 8-2) is the third-place qualifier but will likely open on the road in a very competitive bracket top to bottom.
2A Allegheny—Charleroi 91-5, 4-6) will not make the playoffs but the four wins are twice as many as the Cougars have won in any season since last making the playoffs in 2019.
2A Century—McGuffey (4-2, 7-3) claimed the third-place berth with Friday’s win over Chartiers-Houston (3-3, 4-6). CHHS is on the edge of the wild card picture but the top-level strength of the conference will help the Bucs.
1A Black Hills—Wash High (6-0, 9-1) won the conference title and will likely be the #2 seed in the bracket. Fort Cherry (4-2, 8-2) is second and will host a first-round game. Burgettstown (4-2, 8-2) is likely the best third-place team and could get a home game based on the league’s out-of-conference dominance. Bentworth (2-4, 4-6) is in the wild card discussion but lost four of its last five games. The Bearcats do have a win against possible 2A wild card Keystone Oaks.
1A Tri-County South—California (7-0, 8-2) is first, Beth-Center (6-1, 9-1) is second. Avella (5-2, 6-4) grabbed the third automatic berth with Friday’s win at Frazier. The four Greene County teams in the league–Carmichaels (3-4, 4-6), Jeff-Morgan (2-5, 2-8), West Greene (1-6, 2-8) and Mapletown (0-7, 0-10) will not be in the playoffs.

Andrew Sharp scored five touchdowns, four of them as part of his 151-yard rushing night, and Braylon Edwards added 133 yards and a touchdown, leading Washington & Jefferson past Grove City, 42-14. With the win, W&J (6-0, 7-1) clinches the Presidents Athletic Conference automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. W&J has also clinched at least a share of the conference title with two weeks left in the regular season. W&J built leads of 14-0 & 21-7 before Grove City scored late in the first half. W&J moved to a first-and-goal at the Wolverines’ 8-yard line but fumbled the ball away, ending the half. Grove City received the second half kick off but went three-and-out. W&J scored touchdowns on three straight possessions to blow the game open. Sharp had 152 yards on 21 carries, scoring on runs of 11, 1, 7 and 19 yards, and crossing the 1,000 yard mark for the season. The junior running back caught a 5-yard pass from Wagner on the game’s first drive. Wagner ran for 141 yards on 18 carries and hit 10-of-14 passes for 133 yards. W&J hosts St. Francis next Saturday afternoon before closing the regular season at Westminster Nov. 14.  Listen Here!

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Freshman running back Damon Ferguson ran for a season-high 185 yards and two touchdowns as Pittsburgh eased past Georgia Tech 34-11. The Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory to improve to 6-3 overall and become bowl-eligible. Holden Gernier passed for 180 yards passing and a touchdown to win for the first time as a starter. Georgia Tech fell to 2-6 with the loss. Georgia Tech’s Alberto Mendoza struggled, passing for just 81 yards before being replaced in the fourth quarter by Grady Adamson. Georgia Tech hosts Louisville next week. Pitt is off until Nov. 13 when it welcomes Florida State to Acrisure Stadium.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Cam Wallace ran for 135 yards with a touchdown, and Penn State beat Purdue 31-17 on Saturday for its first Big Ten win of the Matt Campbell era. Rocco Becht and Carson Hansen ran for scores and Becht threw a touchdown to Andrew Rappleyea for the Nittany Lions (4-4, 1-4 Big Ten) who snapped a four-game losing streak with their 12th straight win in the series. Penn State took advantage of a leaky Purdue defense that ranked 119th in the country entering the game. The Nittany Lions, which hadn’t eclipsed 100 yards rushing since registering 119 in their Big Ten opening loss to Wisconsin, racked up 269 yards on the ground with 5.3 yards per carry against the Boilermakers.

MONTREAL (AP) — Josh Anderson had two goals and an assist and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Saturday night for their fifth straight victory. Chris Kreider added a one goal and an assist, and Oliver Kapanen and Alexandre Texier also scored as Montreal (9-3-2) returned home from an undefeated four-game Western trip. Lane Hutson had two assists. Jacob Fowler made 25 saves and became the third Canadiens rookie goalie in the past 40 years to win seven consecutive games. Sidney Crosby and Erik Karlsson each had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh, and Tommy Novak and Rickard Rakell each had a goal and an assist. Sergei Murashov stopped 22 shots.